On the busy train heading home from Birmingham, I find myself reflecting on the past few days and the many conversations I’ve managed to pack into my time there. Between bursts of mobile signal, the journey offers a rare moment to pause, step back from meetings and reflect on the work we do, and why it matters.
Working with public bodies on real challenges
During this visit, I spent time with key stakeholders in the Legal Aid Agency, building on our collaborative ways of working. This included supporting them to make better use of simple tools often referred to as low-code or no-code solutions and helping prioritise the technology work that underpins the services they provide to the public. I also joined a Senior Business Relationship Manager from my team to meet colleagues in the Office of the Public Guardian, where we worked together to reduce risks across several key systems and move towards more strategic, sustainable ways of working that better reflect how the organisation operates day to day.
While these conversations differed in focus, they shared a common theme: the importance of strong, tailored relationships between Justice Digital, Data and Science and the public bodies sponsored by the Ministry of Justice.
No two organisations are the same
The Legal Aid Agency and the Office of the Public Guardian are two of the Ministry of Justice’s 36 sponsored public bodies. These include Executive Agencies and a wide range of other Arm’s Length Bodies - organisations that deliver vital public services on behalf of government, but which vary significantly in size, function and independence. Within Technology Services, the Demand and Business Relationship Management team supports these organisations by understanding their needs and helping them access the right digital and technology services, in the right way, at the right time.
Our team is aligned with the Government Digital and Data Business Relationship Management profession. Our role is to understand organisational objectives, explain how digital and technology services can help achieve them, and build strong, trusted relationships. We focus on clear communication, strategic alignment and effective prioritisation. Alongside this, we also operate a Demand Management function, supporting organisations with requests that fall outside standard, off-the-shelf IT services and helping them navigate more complex or bespoke needs.
Digital functions and effective sponsorship
Justice Digital, Data and Science also plays an important role in how the Ministry of Justice supports and sponsors its public bodies. Government guidance makes it clear that departments should provide the right level of support, oversight and assurance, while allowing these organisations to remain operationally independent. At the same time, there are clear expectations for how digital and technology should be managed safely and effectively across government.
The Demand and Business Relationship Management team brings these responsibilities together. By acting as a trusted link between public bodies and Justice Digital, Data and Science, we help organisations understand how digital and technology can support their services, while ensuring risks are managed and standards are met. In practice, this means helping public bodies access the right expertise at the right time, and enabling the digital function to be a practical, proportionate enabler of good sponsorship and governance.
Showing up where it counts
As a team, we tailor our approach to reflect the diversity of the public bodies we support. This includes very small Arm’s Length Bodies, such as the Independent Public Advocate, which provides support to victims and their families following major incidents and may need more hands‑on support given its size and specialist role. We work with organisations like the Judicial Appointments Commission, which recruits judges, has its own digital capability, and is actively seeking efficiencies across its platforms, technical architecture and software licensing. We also support organisations such as the Legal Ombudsman’s Office, which investigates complaints between consumers and legal service providers and is responsible forits own IT services, where our role is to provide guidance and advice as and when needed.
Over the course of several visits and discussions with the Office of the Public Guardian team in Birmingham, our conversations quickly moved beyond individual systems and onto the very real business risks the organisation was carrying. Critical processes were being held together by complex spreadsheets that regularly failed, creating operational fragility and a genuine risk to the continuity of services that support some of the most vulnerable people in society. Left unaddressed, this kind of workaround can become a single point of failure, placing unnecessary pressure on staff and increasing the risk of disruption to frontline services. By taking the time to understand how teams work day-to-day, and the constraints they were operating under, we were able to work alongside them to support a different approach. Working proactively with colleagues from across Technology Services, we helped introduce a low-code solution to replace those spreadsheet-based processes with something far more robust. Alongside this, we supported the upskilling of staff, helping to build confidence and move teams away from firefighting and towards more sustainable, long-term solutions.
This kind of outcome does not come from technology alone. It relies on trusted relationships, early engagement and a supportive approach that helps organisations navigate change at their own pace. By sharing lessons learned from elsewhere across the Ministry of Justice, and staying closely engaged as the solution was developed, we were able to help the Office of the Public Guardian strengthen its resilience, operate more efficiently and remain focused on delivering the services that people depend on.
We aim to build strong strategic partnerships with all the public bodies we support. Given the number and diversity of organisations involved, this is not without its challenges, but we approach it positively and proactively. We look for opportunities to share lessons learned across the Ministry of Justice, encourage collaboration between public bodies, and work closely with colleagues across Justice Digital, Data and Science to ensure the service provided is seamless and of a consistently high quality. Nothing quite replaces face-to-face engagement, and spending time in Birmingham was a valuable opportunity to continue strengthening those partnerships.
Looking ahead
As the train pulls into the final stop, I am already thinking about what comes next: the follow-up conversations, the work to progress, the public bodies we should revisit. Across 36 public bodies, there is no shortage of challenges to work through. But there is also a real opportunity to make a difference, helping organisations deliver better, more reliable services to the people who depend on them. That is what keeps this work worthwhile.
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